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As The Number Of Black Homeschoolers Rises, Will Trump Give Them Vouchers As Promised?

Like all presidential candidates, Donald Trump made a lot of promises on the campaign trail during his widely-publicized bid for office.

One of things Trump promised was that he’ll propose a plan to help the U.S. federal government provide vouchers to parents who want to home-school their children instead of sending them to traditional public and private education institutions. Trump’s home-school voucher plan was a part of his so-called multi-billion dollar “school choice” initiative.

This plan was outlined last September at the Family Research Council’s annual Values Voter Summit in Washington D.C. The full text of Trump’s speech was later published by Politico around that time. On the surface, Trump’s whole “school choice” federal block grant proposal sounded like a good idea.

It is definitely a good alternative for parents who are tired of dealing with the rising costs of private school and the failed funding and policy problems that are popping up in public school districts across America. Black home-school parents, in particular, would have a lot to benefit from if such a federal education program was actually put into place.

“If we do this, that would mean $12,000 in school choice funds for every disadvantaged student in America,” Trump said at the 2016 Values Voter Summit. “School choice is at the center of this civil rights agenda, and my goal is to provide every single inner-city child in America that is trapped in a failing government school the freedom to attend the school of their choice,” Trump continued.

Home-school is one of the options Trump placed on the list for education choices parents could get a voucher for. However, there have been many skeptics that have come out and said that Trump’s “school choice” proposal is a bunch of hot air.

One of the opponents of Trump’s “school choice” initiative was the national Home-School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA). The HSLDA released a statement on their website last September, which partially read as follows:

“While we have not seen the final plan, and therefore cannot address the accuracy of such concerns, HSLDA will continue to oppose any attempt by Congress or the executive branch to give government money to homeschoolers, because we believe this is outside the constitutional authority given to the federal government and government funds often carry stipulations that limit homeschoolers’ curriculum choices.” (HSLDA.org)

Parents who decide to home-school their children in the future should be very watchful of how the Trump Administration does or does not follow through on its promises to provide a federal voucher program from homeschooling families based in the U.S.